A wet and miserable Waitangi Saturday on Mt Taranaki. Here I ascended my favourite ridge, the Razorback, and climbed Jacob’s Ladder. Now on the Round-the-Mountain track, it was a downhill splash past the Dieffenbach Cliffs and across the Boomerang Slip to the hut. Wet & warm in only my polyester t-shirt and a buff, I had entered the comfortably drenched zone that all runners come to love, perhaps after some persuasion. I saved my Goretex jacket for later in the night when I’d need it most.
On my whistful way to Holly, I befriended a hunter along the trail. Not quite by choice… He looking for his lost dog. I had lost his dog.
As I dashed around one typical corner, a moment of panic struck this hunter’s dog. Was I here to steal him from his master? The trail was narrow, as I approached at speed the dog chose to race off away from his owner. He was gone.
We found the city dog sleeping at Holly Hut. I had scared him on his first run in the bush, and he scampered off in fear. Fortunately, he was able to follow the scent of hot food to the hut.
I, however, had to keep moving, otherwise hypothermia was going to get the best of me. 6pm, I was one third through the 3 day tramp. Just over 1 hour had elapsed since I had left the North Egmont carpark.
After crossing the Atakawa swamp, swampier than ever, I began to ascend the ridge to Pouakai Hut. Once a slippery grovel in the mud, I was grateful for the stairs to carry me efficiently to the Pouakai plateau. The views were spectacularly white.
The Pouakai circuit was a great little run that takes in some of the better trails of Taranaki’s upper circuit, combined with some rough but exciting bush running in the Pouakai Ranges. On a clear day, the best views of Taranaki would be had from the Pouakai’s, as well as along the vast eastern coast towards Raglan. We live in a beautiful country. You can’t always see the beauty as you might expect, but on a wet & wild day on Taranaki you can definitely feel it!
Mountain Adventure Blog 